It is customary to transport goods and to store goods on pallets. Palletized goods are maintained in a position above the flooring. This is very advantageous in areas where there is flooding or where the condition of the flooring is either rough or of concern. Standard pallets are particularly useful in materials handling because forklift equipment can maneuver the pallets by inserting their forklift tines into channels provided by the pallet. Typically, pallets are constructed of wood. In the past, wooden pallets have provided advantages of economy, simplicity and durability, principally because of the lack of other suitable materials. However, wooden pallets are extremely heavy and costly.
In the past decades with the growth of the plastics industry, a wide variety of plastics have been investigated to determine their suitability for use in producing pallets. Plastic pallets can easily be manufactured and are more precise, uniform and cleaner than wooden pallets; also, the plastic used can be composed of recycled materials and can be recycled again. Furthermore, plastic pallets are more durable than wooden pallets. Plastic pallets light in weight, durable, capable of supporting heavy loads, easy to manufacture and have interchangeable parts are disclosed in: PLASTIC PALLET, U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,976, issued 4 Jul. 1989; PLASTIC PALLET, U.S. Pat. No. DES328,175, issued 21 Jul. 1992; PLASTIC PALLET WITH DECK ASSEMBLY, U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,395, issued 30 Mar. 1993; PLASTIC PALLET ASSEMBLY, U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,814, issued 6 Sep. 1994; TWO-PART INTERLOCKING PLASTIC PALLET, U.S. Pat. No. DES346,681, issued 3 May 1994; TWO PART INTERLOCKING PLASTIC PALLET ASSEMBLY, U.S. Pat. No. DES347,511, 31 May 1994; CONNECTOR FOR A PALLET ASSEMBLY, U.S. Pat. No. DES378,458, issued 11 Mar. 1997; CONNECTOR FOR A PALLET ASSEMBLY, U.S. Pat. No. DES354,606, issued 17 Jan. 1995; PLASTIC PALLET ASSEMBLY, U.S. Pat. No. DES364,030, issued 7 Nov. 1995; PLASTIC PALLET ASSEMBLY, U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,686, issued 3 Dec. 1996; CONNECTOR FOR A PALLET ASSEMBLY, U.S. Pat. No. DES378,458, issued 11 Mar. 1997; CONNECTOR FOR A PALLET ASSEMBLY, U.S. Pat. No. DES354,606, issued 17 Jan. 1995; PLASTIC PALLET ASSEMBLY, U.S. Pat. No. DES364,030, issued 7 Nov. 1995; PLASTIC PALLET ASSEMBLY, U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,686, issued 3 Dec. 1996; CONNECTOR FOR A PALLET ASSEMBLY, U.S. Pat. No. DES398,731, issued 22 Sep. 1998; CONNECTOR FOR A PALLET ASSEMBLY, U.S. Pat. No. DES412,047, issued 13 Jul. 1999; and, CONNECTOR ATTACHMENT FOR A PALLET ASSEMBLY, U.S. Pat. No. DES398,732, issued 22 Sep. 1998.
The pallets and connectors disclosed in these patents are owned by NUCON CORPORATION of Deerfield, Ill. USA and are highly successful.
While the present pallets support goods and transport goods well, problems develop when the goods are small and/or fragile. With such items, trays or bins need to be constructed on or separate from the pallets to permit the goods to be stacked upon the pallets. Such trays or bins have strong side walls to prevent the goods from falling and/or crushing the goods below them. With respect to trays, they are often incompatible with the pallet or less than optimum.
In addition, with automation increasing daily, pallets are now automatically loaded, moved, stored, transported and unloaded. As a result, the orientation of the goods on the pallet may become important to the proper execution of an automatic loading and unloading sequence.
The present system was designed to integrate a pallet with one or more stacked trays and cover to maximize the surface area of the pallet, utilize the strength of the pallet, ensure proper orientation of the goods on the pallet, provide a protective cover for the trays and permit the stacking of trays without jeopardizing cleanness, safety and strength.